Company trying to profit off of Malaysian flight tragedy sparks outrage

Teamwork Online tried to use the Malaysian Airlines crash in an email marketing campaign today.

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While the mystery of Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 continues to unravel, the sobering fact remains that there were 239 passengers on board that are either missing, in danger, or dead. Therefore, no matter what conclusion is finally reached on what, exactly, happened to the plane and where it went, the story is a tragedy.

Which is why when one Reddit user received an email today, Wednesday, March 19, from Teamwork Online that used the flight as a chance to profit, they had to share it.

A screenshot of the email was taken and shared to Reddit, and quickly after that went viral across various social mediums. The reactions were overwhelmingly negative, from marketers and non-marketing people alike, and ranged from anger to genuine befuddlement over how this email could have gotten approval to be sent out. In fact, the general disdain for the lost crew and passengers shown by Teamwork Online left many questioning whether or not the email was even real.

But the damage had already been done, as popular marketing company, "UnMarketing", found the email and shared it via all their social networks. Sparking a "viral" spread of the email and leaving many demanding answers as to why anyone at Teamwork Online thought trying to profit off of a tragedy seemed like a good thing to do.

Teamwork Online is not the first company to try and profit off a tragedy on social media, and it certainly will not be the last, but as history proves, it has never worked out well.

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Steve Neville is the President of local social media marketing agency, Intelligent Designs Media, and author of the popular blog at IntelligentDesignsMedia.com. Email Steve: Steve@intelligentdesignsmedia.com